


Just Be There

by Telaryn



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Episode Tag, Established Relationship, F/M, Guilt, Mutant Powers, Nightmares, Post-Episode: s02e10 What They Become, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-14
Updated: 2015-01-14
Packaged: 2018-03-07 13:18:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3174724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telaryn/pseuds/Telaryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As far as Coulson is concerned, the only unusual thing about Skye's nightmares in the wake of everything that's happened is that they waited this long to start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Be There

**Author's Note:**

> Created for Skye/Coulson RomFest 2K15 on Tumblr - Day 2, Prompt: Nightmares

The only thing that surprises him about the nightmares is that it takes a few weeks for them to start. Birth is always traumatic, whether it’s the first time or the fiftieth, and only babies are granted the blessing of being able to forget their pain and fear. Skye will carry hers with her for a very long time, along with her grief over watching Trip die and her belief that she was somehow responsible.

He’s already decided that he is going to kill Raina when they catch up to her. He might even contact Magneto first and see if the old bastard knows any mutants with a sufficiently creative sadistic streak.

She never wanted this…any of this.

God, he can relate.

The first time it happens, he is so deep in an intelligence report that he almost misses it. By the time he reaches Skye’s quarters she is awake and dutifully sipping water under Melinda’s watchful gaze. “You need to be in medical,” May says – her voice firm, but not unkind. “At least until we can figure out how to help you control this.”

She is expecting him to support her assessment, but Skye is already marshaling her protests and the days where he can deny her anything are slipping away. “She can stay with me.”

He can see it in Melinda’s eyes – the desire to pull him out of the room and question him thoroughly about his motivations, remind him that there are protocols in place for situations like this – but the days where she can deny _him_ anything are so far in the past they don’t bear thinking about. “Think of it as payback for all the sleepless nights I gave her when you made her chaperone me.”

_Another period of their lives together now mercifully in the past._

Skye relaxes, letting him take the lead, and it’s this more than anything else that tells him how unsettled she is. So much has been done to her without her consent that it makes her cling even more fiercely to those bits of autonomy fate has left her, but even a superhero needs people they can trust to hold them safe when the fight goes on for too long.

“Phil,” Melinda begins, and he shakes his head at her.

“I know I can’t tell you to stand down, but we can’t keep her in medical indefinitely.” His eyes continually shift to Skye, watching for any indication that he is overstepping. “Let me see what I can do – if it doesn’t work, the three of us can revisit the idea.”

Finally he offers up his best, most mischievous grin to lighten a mood gone suddenly far too dark. “Of course if you don’t feel your agent has enough self-control to keep her hands off me…”

“You poked radioactive badgers as a child, didn’t you?” Skye asks when they are finally alone. Loosening his tie, he toes off his shoes and pads across the carpet on stocking feet to stand in front of her.

“How are you really?” he asks, stroking her hair as gently as he can and ignoring her aspersions on his youthful indiscretions.

She leans into his touch with a small sigh, and he can feel how miserable she is like a vibration in his bones. “Glad you didn’t make me go to medical,” she admits, rolling her eyes up to look at him through her lashes. “I know May’s right – it’s the responsible thing to do – but it still feels like everybody’s watching me, waiting for me to lose control and kill us all.”

 _”Like I killed Trip,”_ is suddenly hanging heavy in the air between them and he hates it, hates how she will not let this go, no matter how much he has tried to make her see.

He isn’t just going to kill Raina – he’s going to fucking _enjoy_ it.

“So what do you want to do?” he asks, taking a seat next to her on the bed. _That_ earns him a leer that burns straight through him, but this is an area they’ve already had to address, and one where he and May are in lockstep. The only thing more unpredictable than Skye’s dreaming mind right now is her libido, and as much as he might wish otherwise her libido is something they can control.

“Truth?” she asks finally, letting the playful moment drop. He nods, brushing her cheek with his fingertips and trying to push away images of everything he wants to do to her in response to that one scorching look. “I’m so tired.” The admission ends on a quiet sob; overcome he puts his arm around her shoulders and lets her lean into him.

“Get comfortable,” he murmurs, kissing her hair. “Can I borrow your laptop?”

He isn’t staying to watch her sleep – this isn’t some pathetic Twilight role play. The point is to be here, to make sure Skye’s unconscious as well as her conscious mind knows that she isn’t alone – that someone she can trust is watching out for her. He will get some work done, surf the ‘net a bit, but mostly just be here.

“You’re not tired?” she asks in that way she has of echoing his thoughts. She is already lying down when he turns back to face her, eyes much too wide, much too ‘thousand yard stare’ for his complete comfort. He shakes his head, returning to her bedside with her laptop in hand.

“I want to finish a report and look into a couple of things first.” He brushes her hair back from her face. “Don’t worry about me. Sleep – that’s an order.”

That earns him the shadow of a laugh as he gets into bed on her other side. Once he’s settled, she moves back into him until there is an unbroken line of contact between her body and the length of his hip and thigh. It’s a dance they’ve done more times than either of them cares to think about, although until recently it’s been Coulson trying to sleep through his nightmares and Skye being his anchor to sanity.

A shudder ripples through her body as he calls up the intelligence report he was reading earlier; settling in, he lets his hand rest lightly on her arm. “Shhh,” he mutters. “Let go. Try not to think.”

She laughs weakly. “You’re funny, boss-man.”

“Laugh-riot, that’s me,” he agrees distractedly, hitting the short-cut key to highlight a passage he needs to talk over with May later.

By the time he reaches the end of the report, Skye has drifted off – her breathing deep and easy, her body relaxed against him. He gazes down at her for a long moment, trying not to give into his anger again about how she never should have had to carry this burden in the first place. Raina…Cal…Ward…all of them thinking they knew what was best for Skye, all of them ignoring what _she_ wanted.

It’s obscene. 

His fingers flex against her skin as he tries to school his thoughts in calmer, more pleasant directions. They have always been sensitive to each other’s moods, even before Skye’s powers were unlocked. If he isn’t careful he will cause the very thing he’s been tasked with preventing, and won’t May have a thing or two to say about that?

He finally settles on planning a series of ‘fantasy vacations’ as a means of distracting himself. ‘Anywhere but here’ is a game they play often these days, dreaming of a time when thing like vacations and travel and not being fugitives from international justice are possible.

Somewhere in the middle of reading up on a seven day Alaskan cruise he dozes off, body going slack against hers. Half an hour becomes an hour, then two.

It is only when Skye begins to shake with silent, dreaming sobs that he comes awake again with a start. Setting her laptop safely aside, he begins to gently card his fingers through her hair – a gesture that has always soothed her during those times they have been able to steal for themselves. “You’re safe,” he whispers, leaning in so his mouth his close to her ear. “I’m here.”

The bed begins to vibrate beneath them then – and not in the good way. “Calm,” he murmurs, shifting slowly until he is spooned around her. “You’re safe…”

It isn’t until he kisses the back of her neck though, that her dreaming mind is distracted enough to be aware of him again. “Come back to me, Skye. Come on.” He kisses her again, selfishly savoring the taste of her skin.

Gradually the bed goes quiet beneath them again, and she goes soft and pliant in his arms. Pulling her in close and tight to his body, he sighs and settles in to properly sleep.


End file.
